Should our faithful PRU readers have nothing better to do this evening, you may want to attend tonight's Council COW!
Tonight's COW agenda (.pdf) covers Public Safety and Public Works. The two most interesting items on tonight's agenda appear to be the discussions under Public Works -- Land Grades on single family residential properties (.pdf) and Commuter parking in residential and commercial areas (.pdf).
In the second memo about parking, the PRU Crew found the following quote very interesting --
"The basis for this recommendation is to avoid setting a precedent that cannot be fulfilled for other businesses."Things that make us go hhhmmm...
28 comments:
...hmmmmm...is exactly right!
In reviewing the entire memo, including the Council Policy Statement re: residential permit exceptions to parking ordinances, approved 03/03/1980 amended 01/19/2009, I find #8 rather humorous.
It reads... Before resident permit parking is approved, there must be a reasonable alternative to relocate displaced vehicles, so that the problem is not moved from block to block.
And here we go.....hmmmmm...with the very limited parking in and around the uptown, which has to accommodate commuters, business owners, employees, and customers not to mention delivery trucks, of course the parking is going to spill into the neighborhoods. However, the residents then apply for the resident parking restrictions, which send the parking to another block and so on and so on and so on.
I can remember a time when living near the uptown was a positive feature when buying or selling your home. Now it's nothing but a cluster f**k that throws commuter and employee parking on to quiet neighboring streets, leaving absolutely no room for a resident to even have a visiting guest park. Isn't that special?!
So let's have some more discussion on bring more business and parking exceptions with no clear plan, other than " put it off, push it through, for the sake of being business friendly" while leaving the residents and their neighborhoods to SUCK IT UP because it's good for business.
Am I the only one who thinks this sucks?
8:51:
What year exactly was this time you fondly look back on??? One of the things (make that many things) that people love about PR is that it is a great communter city. Those of you who do live in a few blocks of Uptown get a nice easy walk to the train, others drive to the train and have done so for as long as I have been here. You act like this is new?!?! Like suddenly there is a parking problem in Uptown??!!! Some of us live near schools. It is great for the kids to be able to walk half a block, but there are cars parked all over the street right now. The school parking lot is not big enough for all those who work there and those who visit.
The other thing that is funny is you attack but you offer no solution. What exactly is your solution? There was a rumor a few weeks ago about a parking garage being built on a parcel of land in uptown and people screamed about that. How about this? How about we have a special one time tax to re route the train to the out of uptown so you can have friends visit.
"I can remember a time when living near the uptown was a positive feature when buying or selling your home".
Hello?!?!?!?!?! IT STILL IS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm gonna probably ask a dumb question, but I wonder if the increse commuter parking in the residentual area is due to the large redevelopment on Northwest HWY. inspite the underground parking?
Mike:
I would strongly argue there has not been a sudden increase. I think that the increase on some side streets is explainedin the memo. The changed the rules on Courtland so the cars had to go elsewhere.
As to the development I do not think that it has sucked up spaces that now cause people to park south of the station when they go to work.
I am am not elected nor paid to "offer" solutions, however, as an active tax paying resident I am inclined to "offer" my frustration and disappointment in the fore mentioned, and their lack of "offering" solutions.
The blind eye routine is old, and the falling on deaf ears speaks volumes.
As commuters, the ability to park near the train has been moved further and further away from the trains. This is a result of the lack of parking in the uptown for "all the new business". Best laid plans...let's be business friendly, let's promote uptown business, we need more business's...parking? what? oh don't worry about parking, we need business. Commuters? throw 'em into the neighborhoods, we need business. Employee parking..throw 'em into the neighborhoods, we need business. Parking? we'll address that when we need to , we need business.
What "we" needed to do is address the parking at the same time "we" we were addressing bringing "all this new business" into town. As usual a day late and several dollars short.
10:32:
Please list all the new business that have been accommodated and, therefore caused people to park in front of your house.
Those bad ole aldermen Howard got rid of tried like hell to get the parking issue addressed when TA2 was being planned, and were shot down and shut up by Tim Shrinky and the do-nothing aldermen on Howard's team who thought the job was to attend cocktail parties at the Country Club. Oh, well. Maybe next time.
I thought the mall the city made a parking lot was supposed to be for the Uptown. Sorry if I'm asking a stupid question.
Pardon the off topic but I stopped by the other blog in town yesterday and was reading the most recent thread. I wanted to add something and the normal place to put comments was not there. I just went over there a few minutes ago to read todays post and it says very clearly "comments off". That is a great strategy. If more than one or two people start to say anything that might question the Mayor's handling of a given situation just turn off the comments!!!
"If more than one or two people start to say anything that might question the Mayor's handling of a given situation just turn off the comments!!!"
That's not really the reason the blog owner has turned off the comments.
I was submitting comments the blog owner did not want to have on the blog and I was doing so by means of exploiting a vulnerability/weakness in the software.
So the blog owner's decision seems to be to turn off comments.
Alpha:
Isn't it possible we are saying the same, or at least a very similar, thing? I mean what was the subject of the posts that you were submitting that they did not want on their blog?
"Isn't it possible we are saying the same, or at least a very similar, thing?"
No. Definitely not.
It's best, I believe, to leave the Public Watchdog issues to the Public Watchdog site and owner.
Fair enough!! Perhaps you are right. I just saw it as strange and worth mentioning.
1:33:
I heard that too.
Anon 1:33 and Anon 3:54
I remembered the same thing about the mall parking lot.
I found an old news article.
http://www.journal-topics.com/pr/05/pr050420.2.html
Folks:
Two issues here that are, to some degree, seperate. First is the number of available spaces. The Mall parking lot added to that number to be sure.
But the second issue is more important as relates to the apparent topic of discussion at tonights meeting. It is also more improtant related to the very first posters rant. The second issue is how those spaces are designated. By that I mean are they normal ole' every day spaces that are metered or not metered but are designated for limited parking (i.e. 3 hours and please do not back into the spaces!!!) or are they long term permit or plug the box all day parking?? All those spaces they added in the Mall do not mean squat to communters and to reducing the number of people parking on 8:51Am's street so his firends can visit. If a commuter parks in one of those spaces they will at a minimum receive a ticket and probably be towed. If they build a parking garage that reaches the sky it will not mean a thing unless people are allowed to park their all day while they are at work. I would tell you that most weekdays you can find many spaces at summit mall empty but a commuter never could have used a scace in that lot.
There are plenty of spaces for commuters to park. I don't thik there is a shortage on them. I think people don't want to pay for them. Whoever said they are moving the commuter space further away from the train has it right too.
Anonymous 1:49,
The other blog has the comments on for the post today. They only have the comments off for the posts questioning teh Mayor.
Does anyone know how the discussion on land grades ended up? I couldn't make the meeting last night.
Anon@11:47 --
We're also waiting on the audio and video loads to the city website and YouTube account.
There are fewer bodies available in the administration department to cover the tasks -- things may take a little longer.
9:34 and/or 11:28
Are you planning on opening a business sometime in the near future in the uptown?
You seem awful eager to challenge the parking issue, a challenge only someone who might have a vested interested and a possible parking battle in front of them would.
I thought the conspiracvy crap was on the other blog. No I am not opening a business. I actually work for a company in the city and ride the train 2-3 days a week. I am not challanging the parking issue. I am challenging the posters reasoning. I notice neither he nor you answered my question. The poster clearly thinks this is all the result of a pro-business attitude and the HUGE amounts of new business has "thrown commuters and employees into parking in the neighborhoods". That does not match my experience in this town. So what new business?? Is in the new business at the old uncle dans? The old WaMu? Is it the new business in the Old Walters space? Is it the empty spaces at the new development? Good lord there are empty store fronts all over town and you are saying it is new business that has caused this problem. What???????
Finally they have the meeting up online.
Alpha, if the PubDog won't let it's own Alpha post on its site, how are we to discuss the issue there? There are serious problems over there. Those people aren't who they seem to be (or is it that they finally seem to be the people we thought they were).
PRU, sorry to hijack your blog for this, but it could use some further discussion.
Regarding parking, seems like we need business to fill up the storefronts. Main Street looks like a ghost town, a real disgrace. The new Uptown development isn't any better. Maybe parking could help. . . a win-win. Wait til we get ye new saloon. Then the tax revenue will be pouring in to support a new lot.
A Ghosttown?
I don't deny there are problems but I got news for you.
In the 36 years I've been here, Main Street has always been the more quiet spot of the Uptown area.
"Alpha, if the PubDog won't let it's own Alpha post on its site, how are we to discuss the issue there? There are serious problems over there. Those people aren't who they seem to be (or is it that they finally seem to be the people we thought they were)."
There are serious problems in more serious places than "over there."
If you want a public discussion of the issues, ask the Mayor; he's more than well aware of all the ins and outs of the subject.
Alternatively, you can FOIA the Mayor's city email account for correspondence on the subject. You will find what you're looking for.
If neither of those paths prove fruitful, I think you probably know how to reach me; if your first attempts to carry your own water don't work, I'll provide you with the information.
Mike:
I have not lived here nearly as long as you so I will have to take your word for it. Candidly, I could give a shit what it was like 36 years ago or 15 or last year. What I do care about is what is it like today and what is being done or can we do about it. What I do know is that if you drive down that street it is about 50% empty. That is why I find it so funny that people talk about business creating parking problems. About the only time you cannot find a space in front of those stores (or empty store fronts) is during the evening train rush or during TOPR.
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